As the Fox analyst prepares to broadcast the Cowboys' Week 1 game vs. the Giants with Joe Buck on Sunday, he said Elliott's new deal speaks volumes about how the team feels about the running back.

"(Elliott) obviously had a lot of the leverage, because they didn't even get to the first game without him," Aikman said. "There was a lot of urgency on the Cowboys' part to get a deal done. I think that speaks volumes to what they think of Zeke and what he means to this franchise and how they view his role in helping them achieve whatever their goals are, and of course that's winning a Super Bowl."

Elliott's deal is the fourth-largest in Cowboys history when considering total compensation. Quarterback Tony Romo received an extension in 2013 that pushed his total deal to seven years, $119.5 million. He retired before reaching the end of that contract.

Aikman, who never received a deal near those numbers, had spoken out about his support for Elliott during the holdout and continued to emphasize why his timing made sense.

"I feel like Zeke had as much leverage right now as he will have at any time for the remainder of his career," Aikman said, "understanding that Dak's going to get paid soon, so is Amari Cooper."

If anyone understands what a holdout can do to a team, it's Aikman. In 1993, teammate Emmitt Smith held out the first two games of the season and the Cowboys started the year 0-2 without him. Of course, the Cowboys went on to win the Super Bowl that season, but Aikman said the "hindsight for those who were around in 1993 of starting the year 0-2 when Emmitt wasn't with us" likely helped moved along the process for Elliott.

Another key Aikman points to helping move things along: Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' desire for another Super Bowl title. The Cowboys haven't made it past the divisional round of the playoffs since the Hall of Famer was on the roster, and Aikman knows the expectations this year are high.

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"There is a great deal of pressure, there always is, but the expectation right now for this team is as high as I've seen in quite some time," Aikman said. "Can they meet those expectations and make it all the way to the Super Bowl? Time will tell."

As for what realistic expectations on the field might look like for this team, Aikman pointed to the notion that outside of Texas, not many people believe in the Cowboys.

"The consensus (in Texas) is how talented this team is, the most talented they've been in so long, the best chance the Cowboys have had to go to the Super Bowl in 20 years," Aikman said. "I think on a national level, I don't know that the optimism is quite as high. I think generally people think this team is capable of being really good. There's a tendency to look at the Cowboys over the totality of the last 20 years and say, 'well it's a .500 club.' People just tend to think they're going to fall back to the average."

As for Aikman?

"I do know that this is a team that Jason Garrett loves," Aikman said. "He likes the way this team has been put together and the type of players that they have, and I think there's something to be said for that.

"I think those things do matter, it goes beyond talent to win at the highest level. And then with the makeup of the players themselves, I think it has the making for something that could be really special."

Alaina Getzenberg. Alaina Getzenberg has been a member of The Dallas Morning News sports department since 2019. She previously worked for CBS Sports, MLB.com and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. She graduated from UC Berkeley in 2017.